This is an ongoing archive and blog of reviews and commentary by W.L. Swarts!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

So Good I Might Actually Pay Full Price For Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk!

The Good: Tastes good, Very nutritious, Comparatively decently-priced.The Bad: Very annoying spout!, It’s hard to pay full price for it when you’ve been used to paying half . . . The Basics: Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk is a worthwhile chocolate-flavored drink regardless of whether one needs it for the health reasons or not!

It is a pretty rare thing when I encounter a food or drink these days where one of the only serious detractions to the product is its packaging. Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk is so good that even its price cannot keep me from recommending it enthusiastically . . . but the irksome, small spout that more often than not causes a mess (it is poorly designed and does not let air flow in while the fluid flows out, causing the container to “hiccup”) is enough to leave me annoyed at the fine folks at Topco Associates LLC (who distribute this drink). As for the price, I spent the summer getting it on clearance, at only $1.10 for the standard 32 fl. oz. cardboard carton. It remains one of the few beverages I would actually pay the full $2.19 for . . . it is that good!

Basics

Organic Full Circle is a healthy drink company and they seem to specialize in dairy replacements that do not require refrigeration because they are not actually dairy! Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk comes in a 32 fl. oz. cardboard carton that is smooth and very portable. The juicebox-style carton is filled with the opaque dark brown liquid, reminiscent of chocolate milk, which is Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk itself.

The 32 fl. oz. bottle is intended to give consumers a full four one-cup servings and it delivers that consistently.

Ease Of Preparation

Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk is a liquid in the 32 fl. oz. bottle and is a ready-to-drink beverage. So, preparation is as easy as opening the carton, which means one has to flip the lid and remove the foil safety seal beneath. That is annoying and frequently leaves behind just enough of the foil or plastic film to inhibit the easy flow of the beverage inside the carton. The flip top is resealable, simply by pressing the hinged top back onto the base of the carton. Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk is best when chilled and after having more than ten of these quarts, I can authoritatively say this beverage benefits from being shaken up. Otherwise sometimes the drink inside can be disturbingly chunky!

Taste

Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk smells like milk chocolate, light and sweet. The scent is subtle compared to some chocolate beverages I have tried, but it wafts into the nose to foreshadow a chocolate flavor to follow.

Fortunately, the scent does not lie! Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk tastes like milk chocolate and it is a little richer than one might expect from the scent of the drink. Instead of being creamy and sweet, it is chocolatey and slightly dry as it passes over the tongue. It is distinctly chocolate in its flavor and anyone who had concerns over what soymilk might taste like will put that to rest by trying Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk. This drink tastes like liquefied chocolate as opposed to any form of weakened milk beverage!

The aftertaste from the Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk beverage is slightly dry, but oddly, I found this to be a real thirst-quencher over the summer as I worked to watch my health and stay hydrated!

Nutrition

As a healthy dairy replacement beverage, Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk is designed to fill in some of the nutritional gaps one might have in their diet, while tasting good to boot! Nutritionally, Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk is a great option for those who are dieting or are trying to improve their health. Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk is primarily composed of filtered water, whole organic soybeans and evaporated organic cane juice. It contains nothing bad and contains soy for those who have allergies. It does not, however, have any actually dairy milk in it!

This drink is also very healthy. One serving of Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk has 3.5 g fat and 140 calories, 30 of which come from the fat. While there are 23 grams of carbohydrates, the beverage has no cholesterol and a decent 7 grams of protein! Surprisingly, there are 170 mg (7% RDA) of sodium in each serving. A single serving has a significant amount of Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, Magnesium, Copper, Vitamin E, Riboflavin and Manganese.

Storage/Clean-up

Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk comes in a cardboard carton and it keeps for a few months. The last carton I purchased before moving had an expiration date of November 26, 2012. This beverage must be refrigerated after it is opened, but otherwise does not require refrigeration!

This drink is a nondairy product and dark because of the chocolate in it. If this gets on clothes, it will certainly stain them. Consult a care guide for your clothes, though I suspect light clothes would need bleach to get this out. Still, the drink wipes off surfaces easily with a cloth, assuming they are impermeable.

Overall

Organic Full Circle Chocolate-Enriched Lactose Free Soymilk tastes great, is loaded with a good number of nutrients and is well worth the money to pick up, even if the carton is poorly designed to get to the good stuff inside!